FAITH

FAITH

BY

FRANK A VOLLMER

  

Peter (Matthew 14:27-29)

THE FIRST WORDS OF JESUS

TO SIMON PETER WERE

COME BE MY DISCIPLE

HIS LAST WORDS TO PETER WERE

COME FOLLOW ME

EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

BETWEEN THOSE TWO CHALLENGES

PETER NEVER FAILED TO FOLLOW

EVEN THOUGH HE OFTEN STUMBLED

IN MATTHEW

WE SEE PETER

IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE

BRAVE ENOUGH

TO WIELD A SWORD

AND CUT OFF

THE EAR OF THE HIGH PRIEST'S SERVANT

BUT LATER

PETER

STANDING IN THE HIGH PRIEST'S COURTYARD

WITHERS UNDER THE SCORNING GAZE

OF A SERVANT GIRL

WITHERS TO THE POINT

THAT HE SWEARS

THAT HE DOES NOT KNOW THE MAN

PEOPLE WHO HAVE FAITH

WILL NEVER ASK

WHO WILL GO UP TO HEAVEN

TO BRING CHRIST DOWN

NEITHER WILL THEY ASK,

WHO WILL GO DOWN

INTO THE WORLD OF THE DEAD

TO RAISE HIM TO LIFE

ALL WHO ARE ACCEPTABLE

BECAUSE OF THEIR FAITH

SIMPLY SAY

THE MESSAGE IS AS NEAR AS YOUR MOUTH

OR YOUR HEART

THE MESSAGE THAT GOD WALKS AMONG US

LAUGHS WITH US

CRIES WITH US

TRIES TO INSPIRE US

SO THAT THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

MIGHT BE BETTER

THIS PETER KNEW

SIMPLE IMPULSIVE PETER

WHO AT THE VOICE OF JESUS

LEAPED FROM THE BOAT

TO WALK ON WATER

WHO WALKED ON WATER

UNTIL HE THOUGHT

HE WAS DOING IT HIMSELF

THEN HE SANK

AND CRIED

LORD SAVE ME

BUT JESUS REACHED DOWN

AS HE DID SO MANY TIMES WITH PETER

AS HE DOES SO MANY TIMES WITH US

AND SAVES US

AND WE ARE ASKED

TO BE WILLING

TO LEAP FROM THE BOAT IN FAITH

KNOWING GOD WILL SUSTAIN US

AND BRING US SAFELY HOME

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[Proverbs 29:18] ORIENTAL WISDOM

ORIENTAL WISDOM

A CHINESE SAGE

WAS ASKED BY HIS STUDENT

WHAT DOES A MAN NEED TO BE HAPPY

HE THOUGHT

AND SAID

AN ARMY

NOT FOR WAR

BUT FOR PEACE

SUFFICIENT FOOD

TO ELIMINATE WANT

TRUST IN LEADERS

BOTH CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS

THAT THEY WILL DO THE RIGHT THING

THESE THREE

A MAN NEEDS

BUT WHAT IF YOU ONLY COULD HAVE TWO

THEN I’D OMIT THE ARMY

MAN WOULD HAVE TO LIVE IN PEACE

BY HIMSELF

BUT WHAT IF YOU ONLY COULD HAVE ONE

THEN I WOULD OMIT FOOD

MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE

WHY WOULD YOU KEEP FAITH

BECAUSE WITHOUT FAITH

THE PEOPLE PERISH

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BABI YAR

THEY RAN TO THE RAVINE

TO STAND AMONG THE DEAD

WHICH THEY SOON JOINED

IF THEY LOOKED UP

THEY ONLY SAW HATEFUL FACES

IF THEY COULD HEAR

ABOVE THE WAILING

THEY HEARD CHRIST KILLERS

AND OTHER NON CHURCH LIKE SAYINGS

THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT

THAT JEWS WERE CHRIST KILLERS

THEY LIVED OUT THEIR FAITH

THEY FELT JUSTIFIED

SO THAT GROUP AFTER GROUP

OF CHRISTS WERE SLAUGHTERED

YOUNG

OLD

MALE

FEMALE

IT DIDN’T MATTER

THEY FELT LIKE

THEY WERE EXTERMINATING

BUGS

SO THEY KILLED BOTH LARVA

AND MATURE INSECTS

THEY FELT LIKE

THEY WERE EXTERMINATING

THINGS

THAT HAD NO RIGHT TO EXIST

THEN THEY SAT IN CHURCH

HEARING THE SERMON

LITTLE CHILDREN

LOVE ON ANOTHER

I WONDER

IF THEY CALLED TO MIND

A MISQUOTE OF JEREMIAH

IF ONLY

THEY HAD KILLED ME

WHILE I WAS IN THE WOMB

THEN MY MOTHER

WOULD HAVE BEEN MY GRAVE

SHE WOULD ALWAYS

HAVE BEEN WITH CHILD

WE ARE ALL GUILTY OF IT

JUDGING PEOPLE LESS THAN WE ARE

BE IT WEALTH

KNOWLEDGE

RACE

FAITH

ANYTHING WHICH MAKES THEM DIFFERENT FROM US

BUT CHRIST IS THE ULTIMATE OTHER

WE ARE ALL SUBSERVIENT TO HIM

HIS WORDS ARE

CLOSE UP BABI YAR

LET THE GRASS GROW

NEVER DO IT AGAIN

.

COME LORD JESUS

“Jim, Christianity has nothing to do with racism.”

That's what my church elder told me when I was a 15-year-old boy. Can you believe that? “That's political, and our faith is personal,” he said.

That's the night I left my church.

Jim Wallis
President and CEO, Sojourners

(a magazine dedicated to faith in action for social justice)

Come Lord Jesus

I hope when all the sentimentality of Christmas is over

That Jesus receives in his stocking

Real food not pap

That men need each other to survive

That the social gospel

Is the gospel

Not an addendum

As we gather in warm churches

Many are cold

As we receive the lord

Many are hungry

As we showoff our Christmas finery

Many are naked

As we celebrate family

Many are lonely

As we think of a child forced to flee to Egypt

Many will not accept the stranger in our midst

We have been taught a narrow image of religion

So that many wonder what happened to the message of Christ

The straw in the manger is prickly

So should be our conscience

Come lord Jesus

Really come

Not as we imagine

But really come

 

DONKEY AND A CARROT

I OFTEN THINK

THAT CHRISTIANITY

REDUCES ITSELF

TO THE PICTURE

OF A DONKEY

CHASING A CARROT ON A STICK

THAT HEAVEN IS A REWARD

FOR GOOD CONDUCT

THAT WE SOMEHOW MERITED IT

GOOD CONDUCT

IS FAITH IN ACTION

DONE

BECAUSE

IT IS THE PROPER THING

EXPECTED

OF ONE

WHO LOVES GOD

NOT FOR REWARD

BUT OUT OF LOVE

LIKE THE ISRAELITES

WHO SERVED GOD

WITHOUT A HOPE OF RESURRECTION

WE GAIN NO MERIT FOR GOOD CONDUCT

IT IS THE FRUIT OF OUR FAITH

ABIDE WITH ME

I AM THE VINE

YOU ARE THE BRANCHES

ABIDE WITH ME

YOU WILL BEAR MUCH FRUIT

.

FATHER’S BUSINESS (Luke 2:49)

DID YOU NOT KNOW

I WAS ABOUT MY FATHER’S

BUSINESS

THIS FROM A TWELVE YEAR OLD BOY

EXPLAINING WHY HE WANDERED OFF

A COMMON PROBLEM

AN UNCOMMON EXCUSE

THAT HAS PUZZLED SCHOLARS

SINCE IT WAS WRITTEN DOWN

IT PUZZLED HIS MOTHER

WHO KEPT THE MEMORY OF THIS

IN HER HEART

ALONG WITH THE WORDS

OF ANNA

AND SIMEON

BUSY WITH MY FATHER’S BUSINESS

A SENSE OF URGENCY

AT AN EARLY AGE

BUT HE WAS TWELVE

HE HAD PARENTS

HE HAD TO LIVE AS A MAN

THE PEAKS AND VALLEYS

OF ORDINARY EXISTENCE

HE HAD TO LEARN

TO LAUGH

AND CRY

TO OBEY

COMMAND

LEARN A TRADE

LEARN HIS FAITH

LIVE HIS FAITH

BE BUSY

AS A SON

MAKING HIS PARENTS PROUD

AND WE

ARE WE MAKING OUR PARENTS PROUD

AND OUR FATHER

THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING

THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING


I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE SOME IDEAS WITH YOU
NOT TO ARGUE
ARGUMENT SELDOM WORKS
EXAMPLE DOES

BUT I DIGRESS

MOST OF US WERE GIVEN OUR FAITH
AS SPIRITUAL PABULUM
WHEN WE WERE YOUNG
WE NOW NEED THE MEAT OF ADULTHOOD

BUT I DIGRESS

I WOULD LIKE FOR US
TO SHARE THESE IDEAS
AS ADULTS

IF UPON PONDERING
YOU FIND YOUR IDEAS ARE RIGHT
YOU’VE LOST NOTHING
YOUR FAITH
IS REAFFIRMED

IF ON THE OTHER HAND
YOU FIND YOUR IDEAS ARE WRONG
GOD GRANT YOU THE GRACE TO CHANGE

HOWEVER
IF YOU FIND YOUR POSITION IS CLOUDY
AND UNSURE
GOD GRANT YOU THE GRACE TO BE CHARITABLE
AND WITHHOLD JUDGMENT

ARE WE NOT IN SOME DEGREE SODOMITES
THE SEXUAL ISSUE ASIDE
ARE WE NOT IN SOME DEGREE SODOMITES
HAVE WE WELCOMED THE STRANGER IN OUR MIDST
OR WISHED HIM HARM
OR WORSE
NOT SEEN HIM AT ALL

EZEKIEL SAYS OF SODOM
THEY WERE ARROGANT
OVERFED
UNCONCERNED
THEY DID NOT HELP THE POOR
THE NEEDY
THEY WERE HAUGHTY
THEY DID DETESTABLE THINGS

OF ALL THE VICTIMS
OF ALL THE SINS OF THE WORLD
WILL THE HUNGRY
DECRY SEXUALITY

IS IT SO HORRIBLE A SIN
THAT CHURCHES FALTER

WE TALK OF GOD’S PLAN
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO GOD’S PLAN

THE HUNGRY DON’T HAVE IT
OR THE HOMELESS
THE REFUGEE
THE UNEMPLOYED
THOSE TRAPPED BY POVERTY
THOSE MADE TO GROVEL
TO SURVIVE

ARE WE NOT ALL IN SOME WAY SODOMITES
AND SHOULD NOT CHRIST
SHAKE THE DUST OFF HIS FEET
AND LEAVE US

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BIRTH

BIRTH

IT IS THE TIME

FOR SINGING PRETTY SONGS

ABOUT EVENTS

THAT MAY NOT HAVE HAPPENED

BURIED IN THE FOLKTALES

IS THE FACT

GOD HAS BECAME MAN

SO MAN CAN BECOME GOD-LIKE

BURIED IN ALL THE COMMOTION

ABOUT CHRISTMAS

BURIED IN ALL THE HULLABALOO

AND OFTEN FORGOTTEN

OR IGNORED

IS A BASIC TENET

OF OUR FAITH

GOD HAS BECOME MAN

AND MAN HAS HIS DIGNITY

AND IMMORTALITY RESTORED

CHRISTIANS HAVE A LONG HISTORY

OF TREATING THE STRANGER

AS NOT BEING GOD’S CHILD

HOW THEN CAN IT LEAD THE WORLD

TO HIS BIRTHING PLACE

HE IS IN US

MUCH AS A PREGNANT WOMEN BEARS A CHILD

MUCH AS A WOMAN LABORS

WE SHOULD LABOR TO BRING HIS CREATION

TO FRUITION

HE DOESN’T NEED THE IMAGE

OF A COLD STABLE

OUR HEARTS ARE COLD ENOUGH

HE DOESN’T NEED THE IMAGE

OF A CROWDED INN

OUR BUSYNESS

HAVE CROWDED HIM OUT

HE DOESN’T NEED SWEET CAROLS SUNG

WHEN THEY ARE SUNG BY ROTE

WITH NO MEANING

HE DOESN’T NEED HERALD ANGELS SINGING

KEEP CASH IN CHRISTMAS

WHEN CHRISTMAS IS MEASURED

BY HOW MUCH YOU GET

WHEN SHEPHERDS

WHO SMELL LIKE SHEEP

ARE KEPT OUT

HE INVITES THEM IN

AS THEIR RIGHT

WHETHER THEY ARE LEGENDS

OR FACT

DOESN’T MATTER

UNLESS HIS BIRTH

IS A LIFE CHANGING EVENT

FOR US

UNLESS WE BEHAVE

AS ONES

GIVEN DIGNITY

BY GOD’S BIRTH

AND EXTEND THE RIGHTS

OF THAT DIGNITY

TO ALL

IF WE DON’T

GOD MIGHT HAVE BEEN

BORN IN A TRASH CAN

AND THROWN OUT

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